Old Audio Publications? (1 Viewer)

[alan halvorson]

Way back when I used to subscribe to many audio publications. Some are still around but others have bit the dust. My favorites were Audio, The Audio Amateur, Speaker Builder and Audiomart. Audio has ceased publication. What has become of The Audio Amateur and Speaker Builder? I let my subscriptions lapse on these but Borders and Barnes & Noble still carried them for many years after. No longer. I'm guessing they have ceased also, but I am not certain.

Audiomart (don't confuse this with Stereophile's for sale section) was an ad-only publication that came out roughly every two weeks. The subscription base was rather small (never more than a few thousand) but it was a dedicated and active audience - it was the way to buy and sell audio and audio-related equipment. For the cost of a subscription, you were entitled to place one ad for free per issue. Not as instantaneous as the internet, but in its time, it was way better and cheaper than all alternatives. Can anyone tell me if this is still around?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Just about all audio-only publications are gone, or have morphed into home theater-related magazines. What used to be called the "underground press" is now slick and advertiser-intensive (TAS, Stereophile). I think I've seen copies of The Sensible Sound at the newsstand. And another one that specializes in tube electronics.

 

[Brian L]

Sensible Sound is still around. I subscribe to that one. Another that may or not still be around is the Audio Critic.

The current issue (if you can call it that) came out about 1 year ago. They have had some problems with publishing on a repeatable schedule, but it is a great read.

The current issue actually has a note on the cover for news stand vendors that says "Display until the next issue arrive" or words to that effect. They know that they can't predict with any certainty when the next issue will arrive, but they certainly do not make any bones about it.

BGL

 

[Jack Briggs]

Yes, Peter Aczel's The Audio Critic is still with us, technically. He has never been able to publish regularly (Aczel promised "bimonthly" during the magazine's 1977 launch, and managed to put out a maximum of four issues in that first year; he ceased publication in 1980 after trying a newsletter format for two issues; he resumed publication in 1987 and has, at best, put out two or three issues a year since while claiming to be a "quarterly"). I have all issues.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

What used to be called the "underground press" is now slick and advertiser-intensive (TAS, Stereophile).

They still have an independent sensibility in my opinion and do great coverage. No doubt it has been hard as two channel is fairly out of favor.

The UK sells quite a few of HiFi News & Record Review (still superb after all these years) and the newer HiFi+, my second fave after Absolute Sound.

Listener magazine sadly folded as well, but Art Dudley, one of high ends nicest guys, has landed at Stereophile. He does great on the vinyl front as does the consistently good Mike Fremer.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

The Audio Critic rocks. I urge anyone out there who is interested in another view of the audio/home theater industry to look around for them. They do very excellent equipment reviews. They usually open up electronics components, and make comments on internal construction, parts quality, etc.

 

[alan halvorson]

I have subscribed to The Audio Critic since it's beginning - I still have those little two-sheets they tried for a short in an attempt to get their reviews out quicker. Didn't work. My subscription ran out with the last issue and I've hesitated to renew until I know that they really are still in business (I've heard otherwise, but then who knows?). I hope so - it is, and always has been, the best audio review publication (and I'm surprised so many mentioned it).

I have subscribed to Stereophile, The Absolute Sound and a few others over the years, but consider these to be nothing more than bad joke books. I do, with some reservations, like The Sensible Sound. I've never been a fan of the British publications I've seen - too much in the vein of Stereophile and that ilk, plus most of the equipment reviewed has no relevance to me.

Mainly, I'd like to know the fate of the three publications I mentioned. I'm guessing they no longer exist, but if they do, I may want to subscribe again.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, collectors: How much value would any of you put on the first forty issues of The Abso!ute Sound in absolutely mint condition? (Issue #1 is in a plastic wrap; none of the magazines are exposed to sunlight, so the pages have managed not to turn yellow.)

 

[Brian L]

Well I'll be dipped.....

There is a new issue of Audio Critic on the newsstand. If you are a subjectivist, it would be best to avoid it!

Their latest, and unfortunately, last edition of "Hip Boots" pretty much restates their overall position on things, and takes a few writers to task (again!).

You gotta love these guys...sacred cows are slayed with dispatch!

BGL

 

[Scott Kriefall]

Speaker builder merged with AudioXPress a few years ago.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I got that latest issue of The Audio Critic as well. It is worth noting that, as far as subjectivism goes, Peter Aczel has done a complete 180 without acknowledging it. During his magazine's first two or three years, his slant was every bit the same as TAS and Stereophile, though better written. But by around the time he first ceased publication and resumed in 1987, Mr. Aczel had begun singing the praises of Julian Hirsch and Stereo Review. As a result, his magazine became truly useful, but Aczel never would admit to his previous ways and would insult those who questioned him on it.

The inter-title bickering among those publications was tiresome, and it's sad that Aczel continues with it.

 

[Brian L]

The inter-title bickering among those publications was tiresome, and it's sad that Aczel continues with it.

Fair enough.

I have only been aware of AC for the last 3 issues (that's 5 years, right?)

I think I am going to subscribe, although the frequency of publishing remains in doubt. Reading AC back to back with an issue of Stereophile would really make one wonder if they were reading publications discussing two completely different hobbies!

BGL

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I love the Audio Critic too, but I agree:

The inter-title bickering among those publications was tiresome, and it's sad that Aczel continues with it.

I even wrote to him that I thought it, a) wasn't professional, and, b) actually wasn't even necessary because the Audio Critic is so well written, that the principals for which they stand for, stand on their own, without demeaning comments about any other magazine (and their writers).

Dang, I haven't gotten my new edition yet.

 

[alan halvorson]

Aczel never would admit to his previous ways and would insult those who questioned him on it.

Au contraire, Jack, he freely admitted the error of his old ways. I don't recall him insulting anyone who questioned him about it either.

The latest issue is on an actual newstand? Which one? My subscription ended with the last issue and I didn't want to drop money until I knew he was continuing publication. I guess he has.

 

[Brian L]

The latest issue in on an actual newstand? Which one?

Page One in Albuquerque, although I do not expect that to be useful information for someone in Minnesota

BGL

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, if any Los Angeles members are reading this you can find several copies of the current issue of The Audio Critic at The Centerfold, on the corner of Fairfax and Melrose.

Alan, thanks for the clarification. Seems that I do recall Aczel addressing this change of heart in one of his 1987 issues.

At any rate, of the few remaining audio-only hobbyist publications, The Audio Critic gets my vote as the one that's truly worth buying and reading. Expect about one to three issues a year.

Two or three times, Aczel had hoped to secure investors in his publication, the last time being some refugees from Audio magazine when that venerable title folded. All deals fell through, and there are just so many hats Aczel can wear.

 

[alan halvorson]

there are just so many hats Aczel can wear

That's how Aczel would have phrased it! You've been absorbed, Jack.

We don't have any of the above retailers in Minnesota. I know that Borders, Barnes & Noble and, I think, a local shop called Shinders carried the magazine at one time. Now I have a reason to make a trek to the Twin Cities.